Alamo panel to see updated plan for plaza tonight

People walk by a bronze panel depicting the evolution of the Alamo from Mission San Antonio de Valero in the 1700s to the military fort known as the Alamo. Several panels have been placed near the Long Barracks and were commissioned by musician Phil Collins, who is a collector of Alamo artifacts. less

People walk by a bronze panel depicting the evolution of the Alamo from Mission San Antonio de Valero in the 1700s to the military fort known as the Alamo. Several panels have been placed near the Long Barracks ... more

Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer

Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer

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People walk by a bronze panel depicting the evolution of the Alamo from Mission San Antonio de Valero in the 1700s to the military fort known as the Alamo. Several panels have been placed near the Long Barracks and were commissioned by musician Phil Collins, who is a collector of Alamo artifacts. less

People walk by a bronze panel depicting the evolution of the Alamo from Mission San Antonio de Valero in the 1700s to the military fort known as the Alamo. Several panels have been placed near the Long Barracks ... more

Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer

Alamo panel to see updated plan for plaza tonight

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The Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee will have two meetings this week on an updated plan that proponents say would improve the mission and battle site as a pedestrian-friendly place of reverence and learning.

The first meeting, at 6 p.m. today at the Menger Hotel downtown, will include design presentations by John Kasman, vice president of PGAV Destinations, and Erik Kramer, principal with Reed-Hilderbrand Landscape Architects.

The 30-member committee, appointed by city officials and the Texas General Land Office, also is expected to meet in executive session afterward to discuss “real estate matters related to the proposed site strategies identified in the comprehensive interpretive plan.”

The committee also will discuss the next steps in the plan’s implementation.

An open house for the public with self-guided tours in Alamo Plaza is set for 6:30 to 8 p.m. today during the closed session.

Another meeting is set for Thursday in the City Council chambers with a briefing on the process by City Councilman Robert Treviño and committee tri-chairs Sue Ann Pemberton and Lionel Sosa, followed by discussion and a possible vote “on site strategies.” Officials said the committee is likely to advance the plan to a six-member Alamo Management Committee, then to the Alamo Executive Committee, composed of Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

Neither agenda includes a public comment portion, although people have already been addressing the City Council about the plan.

The City Council is expected to vote on the public-private site plan in September, initiating a process to close parts of Alamo, Crockett and Houston streets to traffic and develop a repair plan for the Alamo Cenotaph. City and state officials have said the 1930s monument needs extensive repair and should be moved about 500 feet south, to provide an open plaza to serve as an outdoor museum, with better views of the Alamo’s original structures.

The plan update is expected to include improvements in pedestrian access to the plaza, and renderings that show why the Cenotaph needs to be relocated.